Navarro (pictured right) revealed that Farrell (pictured above) had first started feeling ill on Friday when the band were rehearsing for the gigs.

He said of the initial diagnosis of Farrell's illness:

We got in the day before the show and went straight to rehearsals. While we were doing that Perry starting feeling a little under the weather so we stopped and called a doctor. He came and checked him out and prescribed him some medication and told him to rest. As we'd cancelled Reading once before in 1990 we were absolutely dedicated to playing the show so Perry followed doctors orders and rested.

Navarro then revealed that the band were all set to play and had begun warming up when they realised there was still a problem with the singer. He said:

We got on site, before we play we have this little room backstage where we warm up and get ready and we were in there, all set to play. Perry was dressed and had his inner ear monitors in and we go to start and literally nothing came out of his voice. So we called a festival doctor, who came straight away and diagnosed Perry with an upper respiratory infection and told him that speaking, let alone singing, was out of the question.

The guitarist apologised to fans and said that the band were "beyond gutted" to miss the shows. He added:

We're more than sincerely apologetic to all our fans who came to see us. We were all gutted, so gutted. We love playing here. But we've got to take care of him. If he'd pushed it and played then he could have really injured himself. People had to tell him he couldn't play, because he sure wanted to. He took every precaution and really tried to not let it get him.

Navarro also said that though the band are hopeful they will be able to play their scheduled gig at London's Koko on Tuesday, it is still very much "touch and go" at this stage. He said:

He [Farrell] saw another doctor today and everything is touch and go at the moment, he's in bed, but we're taking everything day by day. He's being a real champ about trying to recover as quickly as possible.